Poetry Explication of Robert Frost's the Road Not Taken

Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" dramatizes the conflict of having to make a choice between two paths (both of which lead to a future that is uncertain) and the fear of making the wrong decision. The conflict is dramatized so well, in fact, that the reader can easily sympathize with the speaker and miss the poet's subtle attempt to underline the foolishness of worrying too much over what might have been.

The poem's lyric form with a strict ABAAB scheme and iambic tetrameter could say many things about the poem, but Robert Frost is known to favor the lyric form as well as regularity of the iambic meter, so it would be a stretch to assume that it has a significance in the theme of this particular poem. However, knowing that Frost typically writes in this form should direct the reader's attention to the other ways in which he might be trying to deliver his message, such as his choice of words as well as his use of characterization and subtle irony.

From the first stanza, the speaker is immediately characterized as a man who dwells upon a decision that must be made. A feeling of great apprehension is portrayed by the words "long I stood," as well as by the indirectness of the word "yellow" which (though this may also be a stretch) could imply cowardice. The reader is then led to visualize a person looking down a long road, which implies not only length but duration as the speaker considers the act of walking down the road. The usage of the word "And" at the beginning of three consecutive lines further enhances the sense of delay with a childlike hesitation. And rather than ending with the decision being made, the stanza ends with, "To where it bent in the undergrowth;" leaving the reader with a sense of pondering through to the next stanza about where each road might eventually lead.

The decision is finally made in the next stanza, yet it is only barely mentioned, which implies that the act of deciding was much easier a task than it was made out to be. This could be an indication that the speaker is putting unnecessary thought and worry into this decision. The speaker continues to dwell upon the choice he has made as he defends his decision, suggesting that the chosen road had a, "better claim," and using the phrase, "wanted wear," rather than simply stating that it is lacking wear, which could imply that the road desired to be chosen. Still, he admits that it is "really about the same" and continues to juggle hope and doubt in his mind, though always settling with doubt.

The final stanza of this poem begins with a line: "I shall be telling this with a sigh" which forces the reader to make a choice; probably an unintentional irony. Depending upon how seriously we have taken the speaker and the position he finds himself in thus far, we might want to take the sigh as a confirmation that "somewhere ages and ages hence" the speaker expects be relieved by the outcome of his decision, in which case we would be inspired by his steadfast resolve to maintain his identity. After all, he began the journey as, "one traveler," and made the decision to take the road, "less traveled by." But that begs the question: How could the speaker find such satisfaction when he can never know where the other road would have led him? And if the poem was meant to be an inspirational piece encouraging individualism, wouldn't it be titled, "The Road Less Traveled By," putting emphasis on individuality, rather than, "The Road Not Taken," which stresses regret? Assuming the sigh is meant to imply ruefulness rather than relief, the final line "and that has made all the difference" would actually be irony. The speaker has already admitted that there is no difference. Upon looking back, the two paths were found to be "really about the same."

When I first read this poem, a few years ago, I took it as an inspirational piece that encourages individuality, that is, until I read somewhere that Frost had written the poem as a joke about a friend who dwelled too much upon the decisions he had to make. This has sparked a lot of controversy among readers, and encouraged me to dig deeper into the poem's meaning.

I have since concluded that this poem is likely meant to be both inspirational and ironic. Perhaps it had begun as a joke, poking fun at the human need to worry so much about the choices we will inevitably face, but as a writer myself, I know that writers, especially poets, have a tendency to begin with a simple thought and end up with something much greater, sometimes without even realizing it. However hard we try, it is difficult to hide the things that are most important to us, therefore it would be no surprise that something so profound as individualism could crawl out of a simple jest about brooding over difficult decisions.